Downloadable Music Expected to Boost Sales

Downloadable music will serve as a powerful driver of the market for physical online music sales, which are expected to exceed $2.6 billion by 2003, according to Jupiter Communications, New York.

The report, released this week, predicted that revenue from digital distribution will reach just $147 million by 2003 however, which is only 5.7 percent of the overall value of online music sales.

It predicts that while the next five years will serve as a prelude to mass-market acceptance, it is currently being hindered by a variety of factors including bandwidth constraints, lack of music availability, the presence of a free alternative (MP-3) and a number of portability solutions.